A belt buckle is a belt buckle: Or is it??

 A belt buckle is a belt buckle: Or is it??

While on a casual trip to my favorite Thrift shop I decided to look in the jewelry display case.  As I surveyed the vintage items I spotted a large silver and jade item.  I wasn't sure what it was so I asked the sales person to show me the item.  It was a lovely belt bucket with 2 jade Cranes on it.  I thought I would never wear this as a belt but I might wear it as a pin to decorate the beautiful $5.00 jacket I bought last week.  Enough talk.  Take a look.

                                     This is what I saw in the case.  How beautiful.!! A Belt Buckle???

 I flipped it over and decided I liked the price;  $2.00,  I also noticed it was made by famous Charmant Belts of Beverly Hills CA.  WOW!!

 

  I researched my great find of the day and found it actually sold for $99;00 at one point in time. 

   I really would have not worn this as a belt so I looked in my junk drawer and found a old pin clasp.  I glued the pin clasp on the back of the Belt Buckle and it is now a beautiful conversation piece on any jacket.  Magic.  Junk into Funk.

What to do with your lovely dainty gift boxes??

If you are like me, it's hard to throw away lovely gift boxes.  Of course you could reuse them next Christmas or repurpose them now to hold some of your treasured trinkets.
 I received gifts in the pretty boxes shown here and could not throw them out.

So, I started looking in drawers for items that would turn these almost destined for the trash items into desk-top treasures.  In my favorite junk drawer I found a white dove napkin ring, a bird from an old Christmas wreath, a baby's rocker and a beautiful crystal finial from an old lamp.   I added them to the tops of the gift boxes and now they are adorable keepsake containers for baby's first tooth, an old love letter, you name it, and you can save, it in style.  Cost: $0.00

Having Fun Turning Junk into Funk

Hello Friends,

If you are like me and many of my friends, you are living on a penny but you want to look like a million.  My friend Julia and I have unlocked the secret and would like to share the joy, fun and celebrity status you can achieve in "turning junk into funk.

As I child I fondly remember going to local thrift shops with my mother, Peggy,  looking for furniture, toys, clothing and especially books.  We didn't have a lot of money but you couldn't tell it.  We had great antique furniture that my mother would buy for pennies and restore, clothing that she would embellish and a library full of books.

I carried on this thifty tradition and when I married I furnished an entire 2000 sq ft home for less than $2000.00 while keeping my children and myself looking quite spiffy. 

This blog site will help you save as you rave over exciting ways to enjoy what you have or might I say don't have.  The following ten commandments will help you start saving immediately and may even introduce ways to enhance the quality of family time.

                       Ten Commandments of  Turning Junk into Funk

   1.  Never by retail if you can help it.

   2.  Always visit a thrift shop, flea market, or consignment store first.

   3.  Check out your neighbors trash.

   4.  Look at ways to repurpose your own junk.
   5.  Read fashion magazines for tips about the lastest fashions.

   6.  Look in your own closet or someone who is throwing out goodies.

   7.  Keep glue, spray paint, threads, needles for items that need resuscitation

   8.  Clean out your refrigerator by trying new recipes

   9.  Ask a young person's opinion.
  10.  Finally pray for continued creativity and have fun.

Let's get busy.  My profession deals with medication.  My Physicians Desk Reference looked quite alone on the shelf.  On a short trip to my favorite thrift shop I found a perfect companion.  Mortar and Pestle:  Price Tag:  $1.00.

Thanks to my blogger consultant, Stacey Carmody, I am on my way to Turning your Junk into Funk.!!